Funny you weren’t informed of that.  We had little notices on the pumps that stated that ethanol fuels could affect the performance of your car in such a manner.  Of course, 6 years later, new state and they don’t have such notices.

Well, that’s great, isn’t it? There are stickers on the gas pumps that say the fuel is a 10% ethanol mix and that it conforms to octane ratings, etc, but nothing about performance. This is something that the engine can be adjusted for, isn’t it? Man, the mechanics around here are going to be happy campers. Consumers, maybe not so much.

I had such bad performance that I had to have the gas pumped OUT of my tank so I could refill it with regular gas. Of course, this was 30 years ago, and it was a Volkswagen, but I’m not surprised that this would happen again. I think newer engines are better tuned for this kind of mix.

We now have a 10% mix.  There was a story about a drop in performance on local tv news, but I don’t remember the details.  I don’t think I heard anything about any potential adjustment to engines which could solve the problem, though.

I knew I’d seen this discussed on our local message boards.  Somebody posted a link to an FAQ from something called Iowa Corn about ethanol’s impact on engine performance.  The claim is that it may decrease mpg by 2%.

2% seems pretty optimistic just going by my own experience. My 10 gallon tank has always, always, always gotten in the neighborhood of 380 and 430 gallons per tank. Most of that is local driving with some highway driving. The more highway driving, the higher the gas mileage. I filled up on Monday and my gas mileage seems now to be in the neighborhood of upper 20s.. In other words, really crappy. With the engine running rough I’m not surprised. I HOPE the engine can be tuned to accommodate the fuel mix. I’ll have to consult with my favorite mechanic this weekend.

Well, Iowa Corn is a pro-ethanol outfit; that seems pretty evident.  No doubt that colors their estimate.

How does a 10-gallon tank get between “380 and 430 gallons per tank”??

LOL! Miles. Sorry. I left my brain somewhere...can’t seem to find it.

We have a coffeepot which occasionally does that; never seems to get empty.

Oh, for heaven’s sake.  The captcha word is “cupid,” which seems appropriate for the prom post.

Yes and yes.  Getting the 10% and much less mileage.  I thought I was nuts (so did my husband when I was complaining about not getting as much bang for so many more bucks), but then they had a discussion on the radio a while back and someone who owns a gas station called in and said yup, you are paying more, getting less and could affect your car’s performance.  Shortly after that I was having trouble with my car (and it is not that old and only 70,000 miles on it), ended up spending 1200.00 for new this and new that--ya think there might have been a correlation?  I asked, they said NO, but I don’t believe anything anyone tells me anymore!!
HA! My word is gadfly--perfect for me!!

I’ll be pretty darned peeved if this new fuel causes a $1200 repair bill for a new this and that. My car only has 43,000 miles on it, so it shouldn’t be acting this way and it’s getting worse. Being a reformed Massachusetts driver, I take my opportunities to get into traffic where I can and that usually means flooring it to avoid getting smushed by the oncoming driver who wouldn’t slow down if life depended on it. Flooring it doesn’t work so well when the car has to hesitate and think about it for a couple of seconds before responding. This is not a good situation at all.